A major cast member on NCIS is said to be leaving the series after season 16. Sean Murray, who plays Timothy McGee, has been rumored to likely leave the show based on his character's revealing storyline, which aired last January.
In NCIS season 16 episode 11, titled Toil and Trouble, McGee received a job offer from a tech company. He secretly told Kasie (played by Diona Reasonover) that a head-hunter has been giving him new job leads and asked her to keep quiet about it just yet.
NCIS season 16 also aired a special episode for McGee, which delved more into his character's young life. In Once Upon a Tim, viewers finally got a closer and more intimate look about the character, who was forced to go back to his high school following a murder investigation. Naturally, that trip stirred up many memories about McGee's youth.
Last October, TV Line posted a blind item that suggested a major original cast departure will once again happen on a long-running drama series. There are no hard feelings to this actor's departure, and so the show is working out an "appropriate exit for the character," the report stated.
Fans think that the blind referred to NCIS writing off McGee in the proper way possible. While the character isn't exactly an "original" part of the team of Leroy Jethro Gibson (played by Mark Harmon), McGee has been on the show since season 1 as a recurring guest star.
It's also possible that NCIS is establishing a misdirection to keep fans on edge and still engaged to the series. It's challenging to keep things interesting for fans when a show has been on television for such a long time.
What has viewers guessing about McGee's exit on NCIS is the fact that Murray never expressed that he's planning to leave the CBS show before. But in a recent interview with Cinema Blend, the actor clarified what he thinks is going on with his character.
"I feel that during [Once Upon a Tim], McGee kind of realizes that where he is, where he belongs, and it was the right decision for him to, take this career path," the actor said. "I think he's real happy with the people that he's with, so I don't think McGee's going anywhere."
So, it's looking a lot like McGee may still be a part of NCIS season 17 but it also won't be surprising to have the character out in the future since cast exits are no longer strange for the series. Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo, Duane Henry, and Pauley Perrette have all moved on from the show. Despite their departure, NCIS remains one of CBS highly-rated programs and will likely still be on the air despite many cast shake-ups.
